A Comparative Photocatalytic Activity of LiNbO3 and TiO2 by Investigating the Removal Efficiency of Toluene from Indoor Air

Abstract

Indoor air quality is a major concern in recent years as people spend more of their time in indoors. The quality of indoor air can be deteriorated by a variety of pollutants such as microbial contaminants, volatile and semi volatile organics that can affect the comfort level of air and induce public health problem that threatens virtually all workers in offices and buildings. In most of the urban areas, source control is often ungovernable and unavoidable [1,2]. These pollutants are emitted from different sources such as vehicular exhaust from nearby traffic, biological contaminants, tobacco smoke, indoor activities such as cooking, household products, cooling and heating systems [3,4]. The quality of indoor air has a direct impact on human health in terms of lengthened exposure to pollutants by breathing. Subsequent to the oil crisis in 1970s, buildings were designed to be more energy efficient with better insulation [5,6]. This means that a lower air exchange rate is used and the pollutant concentration accumulated are often higher than the outdoor environment. The health effects of organic chemicals at low or moderate concentrations in the air can cause breathing problems, trigger asthma and reduce lung function. This phenomenon is